Inter-city logistics players such as Rivigo and BlackBuck are hastening the enabling of RFID tag for trucks on their platform to enable electronic transfer of money at toll plazas.The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways extended the exemption of toll collection on national highways until the midnight of November 18 ­ a move that has definitely brought a much-needed respite to scores of logistics players who have been left high and dry in the wake of the demonetisation drive.

Online logistics management marketplaces are latching on to the digital medium with a new vigour to alleviate truckers' cash woes. According to logistics firms and transport operators, around 90% of 3 million trucks on India's roadways have been stuck as petrol pumps, state highway toll collection outposts and small eateries have been refusing cash payments in denominations of Rs 500 and `. 1,000 as reported by ET on Monday .

Inter-city logistics players such as Rivigo and BlackBuck are hastening the enabling of RFID tag (radio-frequency identification) for trucks on their platform to enable electronic transfer of money at toll plazas. BlackBuck is using the extended time on toll exemption to bring more truckers under the electronic system.

“If toll was not exempt, the issue may have been larger. Electronic collection of toll is the best thing to happen to highways since they won't be clogged anymore. This move should push vehicles to use FASTag much more,“ said Deepak Garg, CEO of Rivigo which has adopted FASTag for 70% of its toll payments. With over 40% of the freight payment accounting for fuel costs, these logistics firms have synced fuel cards available on their platform, along with their account-linked prepaid cards that are being loaded with a fixed amount (. Rs 2,000) on a per day basis. “As soon as freight trip payments are transferred into (truckers') accounts, a part gets transferred into the drivers' fuel card immediately. None of our trucks will stop due to cash shortage for fuel,“ said Chanakya Hridaya, cofounder of Tiger Global and Accel Partners backed BlackBuck.

BlackBuck, which had tied up with Janalakshmi Financial Services and YES Bank, has widened its partner base just last week and has brought on board M2P (a digital payment solutions company) and Axis Bank recently, to enable faster prepaid card availability for truckers on its platform.

The cards work as credit-debit cards even at eateries with POS devices. Hridaya said that with trucks being on the move and having access to ATMs beyond the metros (where crowds are floating), the cash strain for truckers on their platform isn't as much as for those who are purely cashrun. Garg said the issue of need for cash for food is not serious for Rivigo since it follows the 'Driver Relay Model' where truck drivers can get back home on the same day or within 24 hours.

Inter-city logistics players said that they are witnessing an increase in orders from customers who are unable to be serviced by regular truckers owing to the cash crunch.

But intra-city players such as Porter have however, seen a 20% dip in transactions within city limits due to a momentary pause in such dealings.